{"id":1431,"title":"First impressions count: Why your store's homepage needs to look amazing","description":"Your homepage is like Tinder for your brand, and make no mistake, first impressions count. We\u2019re looking for love at first sight. Your homepage is the place to bring your brand to life with beautiful content and thumb stopping photography. You've only got one chance to get it right.","content":"

Whilst you might give your blind date the benefit of the doubt when you first meet them, on the internet, there\u2019s no mercy. Rejection is a whim. It takes just 15 seconds<\/strong> for your customers to decide where they're staying or going. That means amazing photography<\/a>, easy navigation and interesting content are key.<\/p>

If you want to get stuck in building your free Teemill site, start now<\/a>. If you want to get all the details, keep scrolling. In this tutorial we show you exactly how to capture to make sure customers go all the way to checkout.<\/p>

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Your homepage is like Tinder for your brand, and make no mistake, first impressions count. We\u2019re looking for love at first sight.<\/p><\/blockquote>


One amazing photo can transform your store's homepage.<\/strong><\/h3>

So if your homepage is the do-or-die moment for your visitors to buy into your brand, what should be on it? The image in the banner on the homepage is the one thing almost everyone sees so it makes sense to invest most of your time and energy into making that look amazing. And when you think about it, it\u2019s kind of handy that just one single photo can make a massive difference to your business.<\/p>

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Set yourself a challenge now. If you had to pick one image to communicate your brand, what it looks like, what it stands for and what it means. One image to capture the spirit of your brand - the one you\u2019d put on the billboard ad or on the front of a magazine. What image is that? That\u2019s your homepage banner. If you don\u2019t have that photo, now is the time to go get it.<\/a><\/p>

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Pick an amazing homepage banner that is a real thumbstopper.<\/p><\/blockquote>

And remember that if your photo is stunning, people will stop and read the words.<\/p>

Make the words on your homepage matter.<\/strong><\/h3>

Take the time to write some language that really is an ear worm, or makes people\u2019s hair tingle. And if you can use images and words to inspire your customer, or make them feel something, they\u2019ll follow what you tell them to do next, in your button: Shop Now.<\/p>

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An easy way to raise your Average Order Value<\/a> is to add some text above or below the main banner on your homepage. Draw attention to the offers that are always available on your store with messages like 'Order before 1pm for next day UK delivery with priority shipping' <\/strong>or 'Free UK shipping on orders over \u00a350'. <\/strong><\/p>

We regularly enable offers on your store like Freepost <\/a>or tree-planting<\/a> weekends - change the text on your homepage to draw attention to these offers when they're live. Check your Masterplan diary <\/a>in your Marketing hub to see what's coming up.<\/p>

Make it easy for your customers to find products through navigation.<\/strong><\/h3>

Aside from an amazing first impression, we\u2019re increasingly seeing visitors use homepages used for primary navigation, or to put it another way, it\u2019s becoming a place for visitors to have a bit of a mooch around. Kind of like an Instagram feed, it\u2019s common for stores to have a majority of mobile users just having a scroll through the photos and content on your homepage, before jumping across into a collection, page or product that catches their eye.<\/p>

So while desktop-dominated stores are used to highly categorised navigation, the most successful stores today have evolved very simple one-word menu navigation then using their homepage as a place to offer more visual navigation like a mood board of the brand, the products and the collections<\/a>.<\/p>

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An example might be using two large images, one of a male model and one of a female model, gating traffic to Menswear or Womenswear. Think big, simple and visual. Design your homepage for users navigating with thumbs, not a mouse.<\/p>

Your homepage is the place to build your brand and bring it to life.<\/strong><\/h3>

Your store's homepage is about your brand, not just your products. People like to hear a bit about your story, your values and to see a bit of character. This means as well as linking to collections, or sharing your bestsellers, writing a few words about you and showing some content and stories - like from your blog<\/a> - will bring your brand to life.<\/p>

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You want to feature products on your homepage so people can easily find the stuff they want to buy, but some background and behind the scenes stuff <\/a>builds a bit of personality too and helps people find out more about you if they\u2019re interested.<\/p>

There\u2019s no limit to what you can create when it comes to your homepage, and the technology is constantly improving too. You can keep repeat visitors engaged by using the Random option on the homepage banner so they see a different product each time, or use Dynamic Product Lists to let the AI optimise your homepage products to show visitors bestsellers over time. The pre-populated Homepage template you'll see when you add your very first page to your site is a great best-practice starting point to remix.<\/p>

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Whatever you do, make sure you review your homepage on mobile, and on desktop (you can use the toggle at the top of the page editor to do this) and ask yourself the question - does this pitch my brand really well?<\/p>

Great customers will invest time to get to know you later, yet the truth is that most first time visitors will judge a book by its cover. This is dating at light speed.<\/p>","urlTitle":"best-store-homepages-inspiration","url":"\/blog\/best-store-homepages-inspiration\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/best-store-homepages-inspiration\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/best-store-homepages-inspiration\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1569582296,"updatedAt":1680692606,"publishedAt":1662538073,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":12,"name":"Teemill"},"tags":[{"id":30,"code":"marketing","name":"marketing","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/marketing\/"},{"id":347,"code":"ecommerce","name":"ecommerce","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/ecommerce\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kfj828jaiskrywq6bur3qst2yjxex4h3ti69lb7xkdluheba.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kfj828jaiskrywq6bur3qst2yjxex4h3ti69lb7xkdluheba.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kfj828jaiskrywq6bur3qst2yjxex4h3ti69lb7xkdluheba.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":null,"metaDescription":"First impressions count and that's why your site homepage should look amazing, to convert traffic into sales. In this blog we help you to create it.","keyPhraseCampaignId":4286,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":40,"title":"Streetwear photography inspiration from Nocturnal Creature","url":"\/blog\/streetwear-photography-inspiration\/","urlTitle":"streetwear-photography-inspiration","division":12,"description":"Instantly recognisable by their unique and edgy style, Nocturnal Creature's photography is fresh, fun and real. In this dose of Teemill inspo, we catch up with their founder to get his advice on how to create original photography for your brand.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c8dfcbad57ee4.57720394.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c8dfcbad57ee4.57720394.jpg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":44,"title":"How to get influencers to wear your products: Ultimate guide to viral fundraising campaigns","url":"\/blog\/get-celebrities-to-wear-products\/","urlTitle":"get-celebrities-to-wear-products","division":12,"description":"A recognisable face wearing your product can be thumb-stopping content for your audience and help you to grow likes, reach and traffic. In this blog we're talking about how to connect your product with influencers, including templates for how to reach out to them.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c93b706581121.45148005.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c93b706581121.45148005.jpg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":70,"title":"Fashion photography inspiration and tips","url":"\/blog\/how-to-fashion-photography-inspiration-taking-good-pictures\/","urlTitle":"how-to-fashion-photography-inspiration-taking-good-pictures","division":12,"description":"A key ingredient to marketing your products is high quality, original photography. It's the one thing that all the top 50 Teemill stores have in common. It brings your brand to life, expressing what you're all about before we even get to the captions. That's how it leads to higher conversion rates, turning followers into visitors and visitors into customers. And with our Sample Store, you can order your products at wholesale prices to photography. You'll find tonnes of inspiration in Academy to get you started with planning your first photoshoot and tips and tricks for scroll-stopping shots.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5edf6a03be0dc6.28860351.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5edf6a03be0dc6.28860351.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}